ZHENG CANES KUNMING LAYOUT ON OMEGA CHINA TOUR

　　China’s Zheng Wengen notched an incredible 11 birdies to capture the first round lead in the Kunming Leg of the Omega China Tour today.

　　The veteran golfer carded a six-under-par 66 - blemished by a triple and double bogey - to take a two stroke lead over Chen Jian and Yang Jinbiao.

　　Zheng’s rollercoaster round at Lakeview Golf Club would have impressed the course's designer Nick Faldo.

　　It is the most number of birdies in a single round on the Omega China Tour and twice he had four birdies in a row.

　　The 41 year old who is never short of a witty comment said: “I am one of the older players on Tour now so I wasn’t able to keep count of how many birdies I was making.”

　　He birdied the final four holes to storm into the lead while he also made four on the trot from the fourth.

　　His triple bogey on the par-four 13th , where he took three to get out of a bunker, seemed to be the catalyst for his stunning finish.“I was furious with that triple so I was so focused over my putts on the final holes,” added Zheng.

　　Zheng, one of the first generation of professionals in China along with Zhang Lianwei and Cheng Jun, has amassed many top 10 finishes since the Tour was inaugurated in 2005 but has yet to record a victory.

　　In the city renowned for the quality of its golf courses, local fans had plenty to cheer about as second placed Chen is based in Kunming.

　　The 35 year old, who teaches at a driving range, benefited from a marathon practice putting session earlier in the week. He spent four hours working on his putting on Monday afternoon and the same amount of time working on his stroke on Tuesday morning.

　　“I was confident on the greens and made just 31 putts!” said Chen.

　　Wu Kangchun, winner of the season opening Sofitel Golf Championship in Nanjing, returned a 69 along with Huang Mingjie, Zhou Xunshu, Zhou Zhenbin, and Zhang Chengwei.

　　Li Chao, winner of the last two legs on Tour, came in with a 72. Li is currently second on the Omega Order of Merit list but a solid performance will see him move ahead of Zhang Lianwei, who is not competing this week.